TriGun: And Then the Desert Lived
by NothingSoSpecial
Summary: Stranded in the middle of the "Trillion-Mile" desert, Vash and the gang discover a tiny village inhabited by a group of children and their lone protector; whom Vash recognizes but can't remember from where. Plus, there's a legend that a special treasure is hidden in the village, one a gang of cruel robbers want- will Vash be able to stop them alongside his "new" ally? Please R/R!


**TriGun: And Then the Desert Lived.**

**Summary: **"While stranded in the middle of the "Trillion-Mile" desert, Vash, Meryl, Milly, and Wolfwood find a small, garden-like oasis in which orphaned and runaway children live, protected by a lone, one-eyed, enigmatic guardian named Carlisle; whom Vash recognizes but can't remember from where. After a gang of bandits attacks the oasis, Carlisle reveals that there is a legend that says there is an invaluable treasure lying deep under the oasis, which is why so many thugs are drawn to the place. But as more and more bandits begin to attack, and as Carlisle is slowly revealed to be something else entirely, and then suddenly unable to protect the oasis anymore, can Vash and his friends step up and save their new friends' home, or will Carlisle, the children, the oasis, and the gang themselves be nothing more than a few more scratches to be washed away forever in the desert sand?"

**Warning: **"**This is my first TriGun story, but I am not new to writing and I have watched all the TriGun episodes and the movie, and know the characters pretty well.** That being said, though, I am only human and may make some mistakes; but please, don't be too mean about it and enjoy the story**. ****Also, this story will be "Rated T" for ****vulgar language, blood, violence, a few character death, references to child abuse/neglect, and other mature themes that may be disturbing and/or too much for our younger and/or immature readers."**

**Disclaimer: "I do not own TriGun; don't make me say it again."**

**N._.S._.S**

**Chapter One: The "Trillion-Mile" Desert.**

**O****f all the deserts on the planet, the "Trillion-Mile" desert was the biggest and hottest. **

Temperatures there were supposed to soar over 120 degrees daily in the Summer, and barely dip under 100 for the rest of the year (even at night). There were gas-spits, tar-fields, and quicksand pots everywhere, and even the "regular" sand was sharp, grainy and got into boots and cloaks and seemed to stick and tear at one's skin for days, and while there was supposed to be some kind of priceless treasure buried in the smack-dab middle of it, no one but the craziest thugs and robbers went after it.

Unsurprisingly, none of them ever came back.

"How did we end up where?" Vash the Stampede moaned, throwing his head back to stare up at the cloudless blue sky in dramatic despair, "It's all your guys' fault!"

"_Our_ fault?" Nicholas Wolfwood countered, incredulously, throwing a dark, annoyed look over his shoulder at the red-coated man, carefully avoiding the gargantuan, gun-toting cross on his other side, "_You_ were the one who started walking this way!"

"Then why did you let me go this way?" Vash groaned, "This place is _horrible_!"

"Oh, get a grip," Meryl Stryfe ordered with a sigh. The heat and sand seemed to be getting to her, too, though, for she seemed a little more impatient than usual, as the day wore on (but Vash's complaining certainly wasn't helping her either). "It doesn't matter who got us here, we just need to find a way out!"

The only one whom the heat seemed not to bother so much was Milly Thompson, Meryl's partner from the Bernardelli Insurance Society. The two of them were assigned to Vash a while ago to keep him from damaging any more property that cost the insurance barons excessive amounts of Double-Dollars.

Of course, it hadn't been very well working so far.

The tall, brown-haired young woman was humming cheerfully as the gang continued on, with Vash still harping on Wolfwood and Meryl still interjecting, often quietly stooping down to look at odd-looking pieces of rock or shiny glass, and even sliding the ones she wanted to keep into her overcoat, already thinking about sending them back to her family in her letters she was wont to write every month.

"I heard there was a treasure buried somewhere in the middle of this desert," Milly spoke up after the spat calmed down a little, "Wouldn't it be amazing if we found out what it was?"

Wolfwood laughed, "That's just an urban legend."

Vash seemed to perk up at this, and despite Wolfwood's dismissal of it, followed Milly's optimism with a bright answer, "Yeah, that would be great! Just imagine what it could be!"

As Vash and Milly excitedly rattled off things that the treasure might be, each idea getting more and more preposterous, Wolfwood and Meryl just shrugged and went along with it.

_"Maybe it's an endless supply of fresh water!"_

_"Maybe it's an endless supply of power!"_

_"No, food! Wouldn't that be something?"_

The ideas kept coming, and soon even Wolfwood and Meryl had begun tossing their own ideas around, each of their moods growing lighter and more optimistic about their situation, none of them even really noticing that the sun was going down, or that they were, in fact, still actually lost.

**N._.S._.S**

**"W****ell, that's the last of our food and water," **Meryl said, her voice showing growing, serious concern as she poured equal amounts of water into four cups and passed out small plates of re-heated food to the group, "if we don't find a town or caravan soon, we'll be in trouble by tomorrow."

"I'm sure that we'll find someone with food and water to spare." Vash answered, optimistically, as he accepted and gulped down the cool water Meryl handed him.

Milly and Wolfwood agreed, but Meryl didn't look convinced.

As he finished eating, Vash stood up and, after handing his plate to Milly, who was scraping clean the other dishes by now, wandered off, ending up easily climbing one of the bigger sand-domes that seemed to be surrounding the group. Just as he got to the top, Wolfwood noticed.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Wolfwood called as he lit a cigarette, "Don't just wander off!"

"Sorry!" Vash called back, "I just want to see if we're getting close to anything!"

Wolfwood glanced back at Milly and Meryl, shrugged, and followed suit.

When he finally reached the top, he found Vash laying heavily back in the hot sand, somehow ignoring the itchy grains that got all over his hair and inside his red coat as he did so, pushing up his yellow-tinted sunglasses as he looked up into the setting sky. Wolfwood sat next to him.

"What kind of treasure do you think is out here?" Wolfwood asked, after a long moment of silence.

"Huh?" Vash sits back up, "I thought you said that was a legend?"

"It is," Wolfwood reaffirmed, "It probably doesn't even exist."

"Then why're you asking?" Vash laughs, "That's kinda weird."

Wolfwood shrugged, "Just wondering what you think it is."

"I don't know," Vash says, still cheerfully, lying back down, "But whatever it is, it might be able to help people live better, don't you think?"

"Yeah," the preacher answers, "Maybe."

As Vash and Wolfwood climbed down the massive dome together after confirming that they were, in fact, nowhere near the sun finally completely set and disappeared in an explosion of colors, under the mountains of sand, and the moons hovered thousands of leagues above them, the group surrounded the small fire Meryl had somehow kept going and bunked down for the night.

Hours later Milly and Meryl had already fallen asleep, and Wolfwood was getting there, staring blankly at the stars, eyes half-closed, Vash remained upright. He smiled at the sight of Wolfwood fighting sleep and then losing, growing relaxed and mute, and then grinned at Meryl and Milly, tangled in the blankets they'd set down to protect themselves from the grainy sand.

_Have I been here before? _Vash wondered, silently, _I feel like I know this place, but I just can't seem to remember how. _As he finally lays back, he slowly, reluctantly dismisses the feeling and closes his eyes.

_Maybe it was a different place. _He let himself think,_ This planet is full of deserts after all._

**N._.S._.S**

**Yes? No?**

**Tell me if you like it, please! XD**

**This is my first TriGun fanfic!**


End file.
